Andreas Bakkerud became the first driver to sweep both finals of a double-header weekend in Nitrocross at Utah Motorsports Campus on Sunday. As with Saturday, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing JC driver Bakkerud started the final from pole position, and …
Andreas Bakkerud became the first driver to sweep both finals of a double-header weekend in Nitrocross at Utah Motorsports Campus on Sunday.
As with Saturday, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing JC driver Bakkerud started the final from pole position, and led teammate Robin Larsson into the first corner. From there, the pair held station for the remainder of the four-lap main.
Larsson, however did face intense pressure from Conner Martell on the final two laps, a duel which resulted in a huge crash for Martell which also collected Lia Block.
Coming into the final corner, Larsson and Martell were door-to-door with the Vermont SportsCar driver going wide and slamming into the pit wall. The resulting dust cloud covered the entire start/finish straight, leaving Block with zero visibility and she slammed into Martell’s sticken machine at full speed.
The crash handed Oliver Eriksson third place, ensuring a repeat of Saturday’s podium. Eriksson prevented a DRR podium sweep by getting by Fraser McConnel on the final lap after Jokering a lap later than the Jamaican to overlap.
Tanner Foust got by the late race crash to finish fourth, while Block was classified fifth after limping across the line, with Kevin Eriksson sixth after being bumped off the track just after the Joker merge on lap 1 following contact with McConnell.
McConnell was seventh after his late race fade, with Martell classified eighth – although he did take the fastest lap before he retired.
Larsson now assumes the points lead with a 12 point advantage over Oliver Eriksson, while Bakkerud-s back-to-back wins means he now sits third in the points, 28 off the top spot.
Mitchell De Jong dominated Sunday’s Nitrocross NEXT EVO final, after emerging from the first turn on the opening lap in the lead. He and Tommi Hallman entered the corner door-to-door, with De Jong edging past.
Hallman then had to defend from Casper Jansson, with the Finn managing to keep second ahead of the reigning NEXT champion.
Kainan Baker won the second Side-by-Side final of the weekend after getting by Kory Willis by alternating his Joker strategy, leaving it late to take the alternate route. Banks Hovey, another to Joker late, finished second, while Gray Leadbetter finished third.
Oliver Flemente won the second Baja Bugs final of the weekend ahead of Kyle Zirkus and Nick Eisenhouer.
Kevin Eriksson hit out at the driving standards of his Nitrocross rivals after multiple instances of contact ended his podium run at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix. The Olsbergs MSE driver was in second behind Dreyer & Reinbold JC RX …
Kevin Eriksson hit out at the driving standards of his Nitrocross rivals after multiple instances of contact ended his podium run at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix.
The Olsbergs MSE driver was in second behind Dreyer & Reinbold JC RX Cartel man Robin Larsson going into the final lap, where both were hit by Travis Pastrana, before Andreas Bakkerud sent him climbing up a bank after making contact going into Turn 3.
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Pastrana’s contact with the lead pair came in after closed in on the pair in the second turn, both being slowed by point man Larsson’s puncture
“Even if he has a puncture, Robin is leading, he dictates the pace,” Eriksson said after the final. “For me Travis overshot it way too hot — that’s a penalty every day of the year, and what Bakkerud did, it’s a hundred times worse than a penalty.”
Remaining on Vermont SportsCar driver Pastrana’s tail going into the next turn — a 90-degree left-hander through the gap of the jump that follows Turn 1 — Bakkerud attempted a pass up the inside of Eriksson. The move resulted in a collision, with Eriksson being fired up the track-lining dirt bank.
“For me, it’s one of the worst things I’ve seen on a rallycross track,” said Eriksson. “He doesn’t do anything [except] just trying to take me off.
“You see how much later Bakkerud brakes. He’s not even close to managing the corner. Not even close. There’s a reason why he’s not respected by the top drivers in Europe and the top drivers here. There’s a reason.”
After an impassioned and expletive rant where he hit out at the series’ all-electric cars, Bakkerud shared his side of the story, blaming the car’s electric power steering for him being unable to avoid the collision, and suggesting his frustration was less about the contact, and more to do with his winless streak which now sits at six races — his longest in the series to-date
“I had the fastest lap time but it’s so hard to predict everything out there. I should be happy with third but I’m still bummed that I can’t win,” said Bakkerud. “He hit my steering and the steering just popped out of my hands and we both ended up way up there.”
Eriksson and Bakkerud also collided in a semifinal earlier in the day. Qnigan/Nitrocross
After reflecting, Bakkerud walked back his stance, saying, “I will say I’m sorry — what I said earlier was in the heat of the moment. I gave some s*** there, but at the same time, there’s lots of stuff going on and I just want to win like everybody else and these guys are so good at this stuff and it takes a lot .
“There’s nothing you can do with electric power steering. When you hit wheel to wheel, it just snaps. It does what it wants, you can’t hold it.”
The final collision between Eriksson and Bakkerud was their second of the day, with both coming together in the second semifinal on the Joker merge. While admitting he had concerns about the joker merge before taking to the track, Eriksson suggested there may have been intent on Bakkerud’s part to collect him once they both hit.
“The most dangerous thing is Bakkerud when he’s spinning in the middle of the track and stopping there,” Eriksson said. “He would have spun either way, but he made sure to spin in the middle of the road so all of us others couldn’t really avoid him. That’s the most dangerous thing.”
Fraser McConnell was classified as the winner of round four of the 2022-24 Nitrocross season at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park after on-the-road winner Travis Pastrana was hit with a penalty. Vermont SportsCar driver Pastrana was demoted two …
Fraser McConnell was classified as the winner of round four of the 2022-24 Nitrocross season at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park after on-the-road winner Travis Pastrana was hit with a penalty.
Vermont SportsCar driver Pastrana was demoted two positions for making contact with Dreyer & Reinbold JC RX Cartel driver Robin Larsson and Olsbergs MSE’s Kevin Eriksson on the last lap of the final.
Pastrana had previously attempted to grab the lead on the opening lap. Starting on the front row of the grid alongside Larsson — both being the most recent winners this season, as well as the victors from last year’s visit to Phoenix — Pastrana swung sideways across the front of Larsson’s car in the first turn, but the Swede resisted.
Larsson ceded the lead at Turn 2, before taking the joker shortcut to move ahead moments later. Pastrana then unusually opted for the joker on the second lap, rather than waiting for his last tour, as is customary when against someone who took it on the first. But Larsson’s pace in the opening part of the race allowed him to remain ahead when the Joker strategies had played out in full.
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Going into that last lap, the top five were covered by 1.5s, with Pastrana third behind leaders Larsson and Eriksson. He had a look up the inside of Eriksson going into Turn 1, but it was Turn 2 where things really kicked off.
Eriksson swept up the inside of Larsson — who was nursing a puncture sustained the lap before — with the pair making light contact. As they squabbled, Pastrana came into the turn fast, hitting both before snatching the lead on the corner exit.
When the pack got to Turn 3, Larsson’s RX Cartel teammate Andreas Bakkerud closed into the leaders, making contact with Eriksson, sending him up the bank on the outside of the turn — a move he would also get a two-place penalty for.
Pastrana emerged from the mayhem in the lead ahead of DRR JC man McConnell, who capitalized on Eriksson and Bakkerud’s shunt to move into a podium position, while Bakkerud held on for third.
Larsson nursed his car home to fourth, ahead of Kevin Eriksson, while his brother and teammate Oliver Eriksson – who dropped out of contention due to lap 1 contact with VSC’s Conner Martell – was sixth.
The win for McConnell is his second on the season, and came after a rotten start to the day where, due to mechanical issues, he only completed three full laps before his Last Chance Qualifier race, which he won.
Meanwhile, the last-lap carnage ended Kevin Eriksson’s podium run. The points leader has finished in the top three at every round so far and was set to continue that streak before his coming together with Bakkerud in the final.
Kevin Eriksson began the day as the top qualifier. Qnigan/Nitrocross
The clash wasn’t their first of the day, either, with the pair colliding in the second semifinal. They came together on the joker merge, taking both out of contention and handing an easy win to Pastrana. Robin Larsson won the earlier semi ahead of Martell who snuck past Oliver Eriksson on the final turn of the final lap.
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Brian Deegan, driving a fourth DRR JC entry, was the only driver to not make the eight-car final. He began the day with a heat win over McConnell after the Jamaican suffered the first of his three retirements in the preliminary rounds.
That put Deegan in the top qualifier race along with fellow heat winners Bakkerud, Larsson, and Kevin Eriksson — Eriksson going on to win and claim his third Top Qualifier result of the season. But Deegan’s day was undone with a fourth place in the first last chance qualifier. Despite a strong start, late Jokers from Martell and Bakkerud dropped him down the order.
Casper Jansson, who finished seventh in the Group E final won the first Nitrocross NEXT round of the weekend, taking the lead on lap four of the six lap contest to leapfrog Lane Vacala after a quiet run up to that point.
Vacala eventually finished second, 5.755s back, with Lia Block claiming her first podium in the category after her previous top three finishes this season were rescinded through penalties.
In Side-by-Sides, Kainan Baker returned to the winners’ circle after his 10th place in the last round ended a three-race victory streak.
It was very nearly a different story, though, after he was bettered by Pastrana — another driver racing in two categories — at the start. Pastrana dominated until lap four when he pulled off the course at Turn 1 with a technical issue.
Baker was ultimately unchallenged after Ben Maier, his nearest challenger, also retired late on. Second went to Tyler Remmereid with Gray Leadbetter completing the podium.
In the first Baja Bugs final of the weekend, Ryan Rodriguez took his third win of the year after a tense battle with Blake Wilkey, while Kyle Zirkus — in his Herbie-liveried Beetle — took third after a last-lap pass on Donny Donnovan.
Robin Larsson won the second part of Nitrocross’ Utah double-header after a bizarre scenario where his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC RX Cartel teammate Andreas Bakkerud failed to take the mandatory joker lap. Bakkerud crossed the line first at the end …
Robin Larsson won the second part of Nitrocross’ Utah double-header after a bizarre scenario where his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC RX Cartel teammate Andreas Bakkerud failed to take the mandatory joker lap.
Bakkerud crossed the line first at the end of the four-lap final, but after not completing one tour of the longer route on the course, was hit with a 30-second penalty that relegated him to fifth.
Larsson’s win was his first of the season, but it was Kevin Eriksson who was in control for much of the final after resisting an early challenge from Bakkerud. Larsson led half the field into the joker on the first lap, and was then able to take advantage of the clear air that afforded him to overhaul Eriksson on the final lap and cross the line 0.337s in front of the Olsbergs MSE driver.
Bakkerud’s penalty allowed Tanner Foust to move up to the podium too, his first in Nitrocross since the 2018 Nitro World Games.
Fraser McConnell was classified fourth ahead of Bakkerud, bouncing back from a disappointing Friday where he missed the final entirely, while Conner Martell was sixth and Oliver Bennett seventh – another driver to make the main after missing out on Friday. Oliver Eriksson was classified eighth after retiring from the final on the first lap with a mechanical issue.
Kevin Eriksson leaves Utah with the championship lead after back-to-back second places. Qnigan/Nitrocross
Ahead of the final, Kevin Eriksson was the top qualifier in the morning, allowing him to skip the heat races which were won by Benito Guerra – who prevailed in an attritional race where Bennett struggled with visibility after sustaining damage and Pastrana retired after contact with McConnell that resulted in the Jamaican driver being excluded – and Martell.
Kevin Eriksson then took a semifinal victory, with Foust and Bakkeurd winning the other two. with Larsson and McConnell locking themselves into the final after winning the Last Chance Qualifiers. Guerra, Conor Daly – who jumped the start in his LCQ – and Friday’s winner Pastrana all failed to make the final, Friday winner Pastrana spinning out of his LCQ.
Despite missing out on the victory once again, Kevin Eriksson retained the points lead, with a 31-point advantage over Larsson.
In NEXT, Casper Jansson had a trouble-free run to victory once again, albeit a victory that would stand this time after his ride-height penalty yesterday. Jimmy Henderson took second after getting by Lia Block on the second lap of the five-lap final, with Patrick Gruszka taking the final podium spot after Block left her joker late.
Kainan Baker’s unbeaten run in Side-by-Sides came to an end after he rolled out on the first lap of the final. Tyler Remmereid, who beat Baker to the holeshot before the red flag, took a comfortable win, 9.690s ahead of Pastrana, who was pulling double duty on Sunday. Brandon Sorensen completed the podium after passing UFC Hall of Famer Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone on the final lap.
Ryan Rodriguez won the second Baja Bug final of the weekend after fighting through from the back of the grid, where the fastest drivers in the field were made to start. Fellow back row starter Blake Wilkey, and Kyle Zirkus completed the podium.
Andreas Bakkerud will replace Heikki Kovalainen at Jenson Button’s JBXE team for the remainder of the Extreme E season, starting with this weekend’s Hydro X Prix in Scotland. Kovalainen made his debut in the all-electric off-road series last time …
Andreas Bakkerud will replace Heikki Kovalainen at Jenson Button’s JBXE team for the remainder of the Extreme E season, starting with this weekend’s Hydro X Prix in Scotland.
Kovalainen made his debut in the all-electric off-road series last time out at the Desert X Prix in Saudi Arabia, driving alongside Hedda Hosas for the 2009 Formula 1 world champion’s team, and helped the outfit to a best result of eighth place across that event’s two championship rounds.
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The 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix winner was most recently in action in the Japanese rally championship. He contested the Kumakogen Rally last weekend in a Skoda Fabia R5, winning every stage en route to his third-straight Japanese rally victory.
Bakkerud, meanwhile, served as one of the series’ reserve drivers in Saudi Arabia. The 2021 European Rallycross champion and 2022-23 Nitro Rallycross runner-up was one of the first drivers to test Extreme E’s Odyssey 21 race car, sampling the car at Chateau de Lastours in France in 2020. However, he has yet to feature in the series.
“I’m super excited to be announced as a competing driver for JBXE,” said Bakkerud. “From testing the car in France in the beginning to stepping in as the Championship Driver in Saudi Arabia learning all about the car and the championship, it’s fantastic to continue being a part of this journey.
“I love what Extreme E is all about, especially their environmental initiatives, how it champions their actions against climate change, and in general, the whole race for the planet ethos, which is also something we in Norway are huge advocates of.”
With Hosas remaining at JBXE, Bakkerud will form one half of an all-Norwegian driver lineup, and first not just for the series, but him too.
“It is my first time racing with a Norwegian so I am looking forward to teaming up with Hedda,” said Bakkerud. “I’m hoping we can cultivate a great working relationship and help each other both improve and succeed. For sure, it will take some time to get used to things, but I hope I can steer JBXE in the right direction.”
Bakkerud will be the third champion rallycross driver to take the team’s male driver spot after Kevin Hansen — who replaced Button from the second round of the 2021 season — and Fraser McConnell, who subsequently replaced Hansen for last year’s finale before moving onto Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Vida Carbon Racing team for this year.
“I am thrilled and honored to welcome Andreas Bakkerud to JBXE for the next round of the season in Scotland,” said Button. “Andreas’ off-road racing pedigree speaks for itself, and his experience will be invaluable in our new all-Norwegian partnership alongside Hedda in the team as we look to kickstart our 2023 campaign.”
